Ian Langford (soldier)

Brigadier Ian Douglas Langford, DSC & Two Bars (born 15 February 1975) is a retired senior officer of the Australian Army.

[1] After graduation from Duntroon in 1995, Langford was posted to 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment for four years, then moved to the commando element, 4 RAR.

[6][16] In 2004, Langford was appointed Aide-de-camp to Special Operations Commander Duncan Lewis, and deployed in 2005 to the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization in Israel, Lebanon and Syria.

[24] The Sydney Morning Herald journalist Chris Masters, who reported extensively on the misconduct of elements of the SASR in Afghanistan, said it was a matter of misfortune that these men were in the rotation when Langford was given command, and that he is considered to be not at fault by Justice Brereton.

[25] Langford became the Staff Officer for Strategy in the Directorate of Army Research and Analysis before being selected to command the 2nd Commando Regiment, including a further deployment to Iraq as CO SOTG-Iraq.

Leadership is the action … that keeps that kind of behaviour within the bounds of what is lawful, what is ethical and what is moral.”[20]From 2017, Langford served as director of the Chief of Army’s select internal think tank, known as Strategic Initiatives Group.

"[12][30] The resignation was described as "a massive loss" to the Australian Defence Force, since he had been a military leader in the mould of American Admiral William H. McRaven; "super smart, strategic and widely respected.

[12][18] On leaving the Australian Defence Force, Langford began consulting on national security and military strategy, regarded as an expert in this field.

[34][35][36] Also in 2024, Langford was made the Executive Director of Security and Defence PLuS, a program of the PLuS Alliance which is a joint higher education partnership of King's College London, Arizona State University and UNSW.